In color photographic light-sensitive materials, when the photographic material is exposed to light image-wise and then color-developed, the oxidized color-developing agent and couplers are reacted, and an image is formed. In this system, color reproduction by the subtractive color process is used, and, to reproduce blue, green, and red colors, dye images are formed that are yellow, magenta, and cyan in color, respectively complementary to blue, green, and red.
Color development is accomplished by immersing the light-exposed color photographic material in an aqueous alkali solution in which a color-developing agent is dissolved (a developing solution). However, the color-developing agent in an aqueous alkali solution is unstable and liable to deteriorate with a lapse of time, and there is the problem that the developing solution must be replenished frequently in order to retain stable developing performance. Further, used developing solutions containing a color-developing agent are required to be discarded, and this, together with the above frequent replenishment, creates a serious problem regarding the treatment of used developing solutions that are discharged in large volume. Thus, low-replenishment and reduced discharge of developing solutions are strongly demanded.
One effective measure proposed for realizing low-replenishment and reduced discharge of developing solutions is a method wherein an aromatic primary amine developing agent or its precursor is built in a hydrophilic colloid layer of a color photographic material. Examples of the developing agents that can be built in include compounds described, for example, in British Patent No. 803,783, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,342,597, 3,719,492, and 4,060,418, British Patent No. 1,069,061, West German Patent No. 1,159,758, JP-B ("JP-B" means examined Japanese patent publication) Nos. 14,671/1983 and 14,672/1983, and JP-A ("JP-A" means unexamined published Japanese patent application) Nos. 76,543/1982 and 81,643/1984. However, color photographic materials having these aromatic primary amine developing agents or their precursors built therein have a defect that satisfactory color formation is not attained when they are chromogenically developed.
Another effective measure proposed is a method wherein a sulfonylhydrazine-type developing agent is built in a hydrophilic colloid layer of a color photographic material, and examples of the color-developing agent that can be built in include compounds described, for example, in European Patent Nos. 545,491A1 and 565,165A1. However, even the developing agent mentioned therein cannot attain satisfactory color formation when color-developed; and further, when, for this sulfonylhydrazine-type developing agent, use is made of a coupler having a substituent at an active position (a position where coupling with the oxidation product of the developing agent will take place), there is the problem that color formation hardly takes place. In comparison with couplers unsubstituted at the active position, couplers having a substituent at the active position have the advantages that stain due to couplers can be reduced, and that the activity of the couplers can be easily adjusted by the substituent. Accordingly, there is strong need for a developing agent that, even when built-in, can provide satisfactory color formation when developed, and that also can show good color-formation property in developing an image, even when a coupler having a substituent at the active position is used.